If creme de menthe has turned up in a recipe or caught your eye at the store, here's what you need to use it with confidence and how to choose it, cook it, store it, what to substitute, and 43 recipes to try it in.

What is creme de menthe?

Creme de menthe is a sweet, mint-flavored liqueur, usually around 24 percent alcohol. The name means "cream of mint," but there is no dairy in it. The "creme" points to its thick, sugary body, not cream.

It comes in two colors that taste the same. Green creme de menthe is dyed for show and is the classic choice when you want that bright minty look. White (clear) creme de menthe tastes identical but keeps a dessert or pale cocktail from turning green.

Both are made by steeping mint, usually peppermint or a peppermint and spearmint blend, in neutral spirit, then sweetening heavily.

Ways to Use It

In the glass, creme de menthe is the backbone of the Grasshopper, blended with white cacao and cream into a mint-chocolate dessert drink. A splash over ice with soda or a few drops in hot chocolate works too, since the sweetness means a little goes a long way.

In the kitchen its real home is dessert. It flavors the filling in Easy Grasshopper Pie and the boozy cream in St. Patrick's Day Grasshopper Pie Cupcakes, and it soaks through Chocolate Creme De Menthe Cake without any extra sugar needed.

Mint and chocolate are the pairing it was born for. Stir a tablespoon or two into chocolate ganache, brownie batter, or a chilled mousse like Chocolate-Mint Mousse, and the alcohol mostly cooks or chills away while the mint stays.

It also layers into parfaits and frozen pies, where you fold it into whipped cream or softened ice cream and freeze. Because it is mostly sugar, it keeps these no-bake fillings soft and scoopable straight from the freezer.

Pairing and Common Mistakes

Beyond chocolate, mint plays well with coffee, vanilla, cream, and Oreo-style cookies. A Chocolate Mint Oreo Drink leans on exactly that mix. Keep the other flavors simple so the mint reads clear.

The big mistake is pouring it in like an extract. Creme de menthe is sweet and gentle, not concentrated, so a teaspoon does almost nothing.

Recipes call for it by the tablespoon or quarter-cup, and you usually need to cut back on the sugar elsewhere to keep the dish from going cloying.

Watch the color too. Green creme de menthe will tint a pale buttercream or cream filling a vivid mint shade, which is great for a grasshopper pie and wrong for a delicate white dessert. Reach for the white bottle when you want the flavor without the dye.

Substitutes

Peppermint extract is the most common stand-in, but it is far stronger and has no alcohol or sugar. Use roughly a quarter to half teaspoon of extract plus a tablespoon of simple syrup in place of two tablespoons of creme de menthe, then taste.

For a closer match, mix peppermint schnapps with a little simple syrup, or use clear creme de cacao with a drop of mint if you want the chocolate note.

In a no-alcohol dessert, mint syrup or a strong mint tea reduced with sugar gets you the flavor and sweetness, minus the kick.

If you only need the color, a drop of green food coloring covers the look while the extract handles the taste.

Buying and Storing

Most liquor stores carry both green and white in small bottles, which is plenty since recipes use only a few tablespoons. Buy white if you bake more than you mix drinks, since it works anywhere the green does without the dye worry.

Like most liqueurs, creme de menthe is shelf-stable and does not really expire. Stored upright in a cool, dark cabinet, an opened bottle keeps its flavor for years, though the mint slowly mellows over time.

No need to refrigerate it. The high sugar and alcohol act as preservatives, so a tightly capped bottle in the pantry is fine. If it ever throws sugar crystals at the bottom, a gentle warm-water bath redissolves them.

It turns up in more than 40 recipes here, nearly all of them mint-chocolate desserts.

Nutrition

Quick facts

Food group: Creme de menthe is a member of the Beverages US Department of Agriculture nutritional food group.

In Chinese

奶酪和薄荷

British (UK) term

Creme de menthe

en français

crème de menthe

en español

crema de menta

How much does creme de menthe weigh?

Amount	Weight
1 fl oz	33 grams
1 jigger 1.5 fl oz	50 grams

Related

Beverages

Recipes using creme de menthe

There are 43 recipes that contain this ingredient.

All 43 recipes